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<p><em><a href="Non-Sumou.html">Other Debian GNU/Linux on the HTC Universal tips</a></em></p>
<p>Running Debian GNU/Linux on the HTC Universal is simple.</p>
<ul>
<li>Prepare the SD card for running Debian GNU/Linux: You run Debian GNU/Linux from an SD card. On a Linux PC, insert the card in a card reader and create one <strong>ext2</strong> partition on it. Don't use ext3, as the frequent writes to the card will destroy it fast. You can use any size SD card, I'm using a 32GB Kingston card without problems.</li>
</ul>
<p>I've experimented with different card setups, notably having the first partition as vfat, storing the HaRET and kernel on it, and putting GNU/Linux in the second partition etc, but it resulted in significant card I/O read/write errors, most probably due to starting HaRET off of the card and then accessing another partition on the card. So I advise against such setup. With just one ext2 partition and HaRET on the Universal flash, I experience no such issues.</p>
<p><em>Therefore, assuming the card is mounted as /dev/sdb on the PC</em>:
<table bgcolor="#000000" border="1"><tr><td border="0"><font color="#FFFF00"><b># parted -s /dev/sdb mklabel msdos<br />
# parted -s /dev/sdb mkpartfs primary ext2 0 &mdash; -1</b></td></tr></table></p>
<ul>
<li>Download HaRET, the linux kernel, and HaRET initialization file to the Universal.</li>
</ul>
<p>Following the <a href="http://sumou.com/uni/vebu/installing-debian_20070427.html">Installing Debian GNU/Linux on the Universal guide</a>, originally found <a href="http://wiki.neilandtheresa.co.uk/Titchy_Mobile/Installing_Debian">here</a>, download three files and put them in a directory on the Universal, in main memory.</p>
<p>If your Universal's RAM has been <a href="Upgrading%20RAM%20on%20the%20Universal%20to%20128MB.html">upgraded to 128MB</a>, download:
<a href="http://sumou.com/uni/zImage.128mb">zImage.128mb</a>
<a href="http://sumou.com/uni/startup.txt.128mb">startup.txt.128mb</a>
<a href="http://sumou.com/uni/haret-w.exe">haret-w.exe</a>
Rename <strong>startup.txt.128mb</strong> to <strong>startup.txt</strong>.</p>

If your Universal's RAM has not been upgraded, and you only have 64MB, download:
<a href="http://sumou.com/uni/zImage.64mb">zImage.64mb</a>
<a href="http://sumou.com/uni/startup.txt.64mb">startup.txt.64mb</a>
<a href="http://sumou.com/uni/haret-w.exe">haret-w.exe</a>
Rename <strong>startup.txt.64mb</strong> to <strong>startup.txt</strong>.</p>
<ul>
<li>Copy Debian root filesystem to the SD card from a PC.
Choose one of the following root filesystems and untar them with <strong>tar xjvpf</strong> to the root of the SD card from a PC, so that you preserve file permissions.</li>
</ul>

Available **rootfs**es:
<a href="http://sumou.com/uni/shiroikuma-universal-rootfs-20080507.tar.bz2">Full Debian GNU/Linux Universal rootfs (245MiB)</a>, based on the rootfs originally found <a href="http://wiki.neilandtheresa.co.uk/Titchy_Mobile/Installing_Debian">here</a>, with X set up, mplayer installed, root password <strong>root</strong>, aptitude full-upgraded as of 2008-05-07.</p>

To run Debian GNU/Linux now, insert the SD card into the phone, start <strong>haret-w.exe</strong> on the phone, and GNU/Linux will boot. Make sure Wi-Fi is not enabled on the phone prior to starting HaRET, or this will lead to problems in running GNU/Linux.
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